Action Mental Health and Lighthouse have announced that they are exploring options for closer collaborative working. The Boards of both organisations are keen to build and sustain the existing expertise within the two organisations and want to build on the strong track record both have in partnership working to deliver better outcomes for clients.
The purpose of this initiative is to enhance effectiveness in meeting the needs of clients and local communities whilst ensuring resources are used to best effect. It is possible that this process could lead to Lighthouse and Action Mental Health merging which means they will become a single entity.
In the first instance the two Boards have agreed to form a joint Steering Group to manage the process and they will be actively engaged in a process over the next months to examine ways to work together more effectively. We would ask for the support and encouragement of all our stakeholders in this process; our key priority is to ensure a seamless provision of existing services to clients as this process progresses. We would wish to reassure our clients and service users that this is a process designed to enhance and protect current services. There will be no negative impact on the services and support you are currently receiving.
Any relevant queries from stakeholders should be referred in the first instance to their usual contact within the respective organisations. The Steering Group will agree a communications strategy to ensure that clients, service users, staff, stakeholders and other interested parties are kept informed of progress on an ongoing basis.
Progressive Building Society launch Northern Ireland Savings Week in partnership with Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council NI. L-R Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager, Action Mental Health; Jane Millar, Head of Lending & Savings, Progressive Building Society; Scott Kennerley, Director of Financial Services, The Consumer Council NI
Progressive Building Society has partnered with Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council NI to launch its third annual Northern Ireland Savings Week, from 7th-11th September. Savings Week was developed with the aim of instilling a savings culture across Northern Ireland. This year, the coronavirus pandemic has encouraged Progressive to shift the initiative’s focus to encouraging people across Northern Ireland to ‘open up’ about our finances, savings and how they impact on our mental health.
Commenting on the shift in focus for this year’s Savings Week, Jane Millar, Head of Lending and Savings at Progressive Building Society said, “COVID-19 has affected many people’s financial situations, whether through furlough or loss of income, and we recognise the impact money worries can have on our mental health. That is why we wanted to use this year’s Savings Week as an opportunity to encourage people across Northern Ireland to open up about financial and mental wellbeing, and educate individuals and families about the positive impact that regular saving can have on our mental health in the long term. ”
Jonathan Smyth, Fundraising & Communications Manager at Action Mental Health, said of the partnership “We are delighted to be working alongside Progressive and The Consumer Council for Northern Ireland Savings Week as we know that financial anxiety and money worries can have serious impacts on people’s mental wellbeing. Teaching people about savings and budgeting, as well as taking steps to look after their mental health, is a simple way to prevent these issues getting out of control.”
Scott Kennerley, Director of Financial Services at The Consumer Council, which is supporting Northern Ireland Savings Week for the third year, commented: “At a time when household finances are already tight and peoples’ mental health may be impacted by money worries, it is more important than ever to encourage each other to open up and speak out about savings, budgeting and money management.
“For those looking to make the first step towards regular saving as a way of protecting their mental health in the longer term, our online budgeting tool is a great place to start. The tool can be found on the Northern Ireland Savings Week section of Progressive Building Society’s website, along with lots of useful information from Action Mental Health,.”
Reflecting on the partnerships for this year’s Savings Week, Jane Millar said, “Together with Action Mental Health and The Consumer Council, Progressive, as a leading savings account provider in Northern Ireland, aims to provide support for local people who are currently experiencing financial stress. The partnerships we have garnered for this year’s Northern Ireland Savings Week have brought real expertise and depth of understanding to the initiative, and we are looking forward to opening up about savings with the Northern Ireland public and our Members.”
For more information on this year’s NI Savings Week, and to access help and support around saving, budgeting or mental health and wellbeing, visit www.theprogressive.com
AMH New Horizons Belfast, like all the charity’s services based around Northern Ireland, provides educational and vocational training alongside a host of therapeutic pursuits – even in our new, post-Covid normal. Here, two clients praise the diverse range of activities on offer, in nurturing both their future employment prospects and overall sense of well-being.
Blended Learning
Recently blended learning has been the approach taken at New Horizons. Blended learning is a style of education in which clients (students) learn via electronic and online media (zoom) as well as traditional face-to-face teaching. I am currently participating in online zoom sessions (clag and writing class) with a tutor from New Horizons and other clients. I then attend a 2 hour ‘in-service’ class of ECDL which is a computer qualification. I travel into the Belfast New Horizons and receive tuition alongside a small number of students. There is a limited amount of people in the building due to covid restrictions and regulations. Personally, I feel very secure and safe in such an environment and there are cleaning stations throughout the building and access to bottled water and restrooms. Though we are all living in restricted times, the balance of blended learning has really benefited me and many across the service. Aodhan
Singing Group
I enjoy choir practice because it is fun and easy on the soul. Singing for me releases endorphins in the body and the brain and serotonin levels become a lot higher, which in turn help one’s mood to become much lighter, at ease and happier. This class would instantly de-stress mood levels and help to relax the body. We are an informal group in our class. It is laid back, just us singing songs each week, mainly from musicals. The class is all about having fun, being happy and mainly uber relaxed. I would highly recommend clients consider joining us to help with their journey into wellness and helping their wellbeing. Karen
AMH New Horizons activities are operated through the “Working it Out” project, which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts.
The impact of lockdown and the pandemic has had a big impact on many people’s mental health and well-being, meaning Action Mental Health’s services are needed now more than ever.
But, we need YOUR support as our fundraising income has been hit badly during this time.
You can help us by #TakingActionOnMentalHealth.
Image from Jenny Hill on Unsplash
It’s NATIONAL FITNESS DAY on Wednesday 23rd September 2020 – why not fundraise for us with a virtual fundraising challenge?
By doing so, you’ll not only help raise funds, you’ll be getting active and supporting your own mental health.
You can choose to walk, run, swim, cycle, wheel or even scoot! Anywhere and at anytime you wish – this is your virtual challenge. We just want you to set a target that you can meet by 23rd Sept.
Here are some examples of activities that you could choose to do:
Image from Sayan Nath on Unsplash
Swim 1 km, start now and build up your distance, so that you can meet your target by National Fitness Day.
Choose to walk5 km every day until September 23rd! Why not take the dog as well?
Run – work up to running your first 10 km or maybe set a big target like 100 km and aim to hit it by 23rd Sept?
Cycle 20 km every day picking a new route each day and visiting local beauty spots.
Run a full marathon – get the running shoes out and get training to try and clock up 42 km on a day you choose.
Get the KIDS involved! Cycle or scoot a loop of your park everyday!
Do an Ultra-Challenge! Like cycle the distance from Malin to Mizen Head – c600km
Or by choosing to do your own distance and activity, get creative!
Once you register and create your fundraising page you can link it to the Strava app to track your progress. Don’t worry if you don’t have the app – you can download it for free before or after you register.
One great added extra is the opportunity to get some friends together (while adhering to public health guidance) to take part in a team challenge.
So there you have it, there are plenty of options to get involved, and get fundraising.
Image from Marcus Ng on Unsplash
Simply click here to REGISTER NOW.You can register as an individual or as a team.
You can complete the challenge any time between now and 23rd September, 2020.
For more details or ideas on how we can support you please email [email protected]. We’d love to hear your story and why you’re fundraising and we can also supply you with branded t-shirts and fundraising materials.
NB If you plan to do this as a team, please follow these simple steps when registering…
For Team Captains – Create your team! (simply by selecting the Team Registration option), when you register. You can give your team a name when you select the CREATE option, at this point you will be asked to add the contact details of all your team members, including their email addresses.
It is important to remember to do this when you CREATE your team, as members will be asked to FIND their team when they register, and will need to know the exact name you have given them, i.e., Julie’s Action Mental Health’s relay team.
Whatever you are doing, please do make sure you complete your activity safely and within the guidance on public health. Thank you.
Packed with stats from our recovery services and resilience services, it is a clear picture of how we are having an impact in our local communities. We really are living up to our mission – to make a positive difference to people’s mental health and well-being!
A snap shot:
26,284 beneficiaries of AMH Resilience services
4,120 accredited training outcomes by AMH clients
197 clients progressed to paid employment, voluntary work or further education or training
Our messages to raise awareness and tackle stigma, reached 26M people via traditional and digital media
New Life Counselling (then a member of the Action Mental Health Group) delivered 15,553 counselling sessions
We had 176 wonderful people working in Action Mental Health
A full copy of the consolidated group annual report and audited accounts of the year to 31st March 2020 can be obtained by contacting [email protected].
As we approach the start of a new school year, after what has been a genuinely unprecedented period for everyone including children, young people, parents and teachers we are focused on ensuring mental health and emotional well-being is prioritised.
We’ve been working hard to adapt all of our programmes over the last few months to make sure we can still deliver them safely and to ensure that we are reacting to the situation people find themselves in.
You can find out more about the range of programmes that we have on offer byclicking here. You’ll also find contact details for our teams so that you can make a booking for your school, college or group.
To help relaunch our programmes for the new school year we’ve created some new characters for our Healthy Me team and we’d love you to help us name them all!
You can include your suggestion for each character on our survey – link below. We’ll go with the most popular!
You can also leave us your email address if you would like someone to contact you about our resilience and well-being programmes for children and young people.
A client who has been passing on knowledge she has acquired at Action Mental Health has praised the courses and care which have helped her journey back to better mental health.
When Joanna Bower arrived at New Horizons she suffered from a lack of confidence in herself, something many people experience when they first arrive at Action Mental Health’s New Horizons Services.
From the outset, her apprehensiveness meant Joanna found attending classes difficult. But during the ensuing six months spent among people who can empathise with her journey through mental ill-health, she experienced a turnaround in her attitude to the service.
With the support and encouragement of New Horizons’ staff and other clients, Joanna took part in creative and personal development classes, recently also participating in Sign Language classes. Though she was very nervous about at the beginning, she has excelled at this new skill and has found it a wonderful tool to keep connected with her younger nieces and nephews via zoom, even teaching them the new communication system.
Since joining New Horizons, Joanna has grown in confidence and is learning more new skills with every passing week, reinforcing and supporting her recovery and journey to positive mental well-being.
AMH New Horizons activities are operated through the “Working it Out” project, which is part-funded through the Northern Ireland European Social Fund Programme 2014-2020, the Department for the Economy and the five NI Health & Social Care Trusts.
‘ChatPal- Your Positive Psychology ChatBot’ is a new mental health app designed to support users’ mental health and wellbeing. Developed by researchers from Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) and Ulster University, the app is available for use 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ChatPal is a research project funded by the EU and the Northern Periphery and Arctic Programme. Action Mental Health is a member of the project team.
The COVID-19 pandemic placed further pressure on already stretched mental health services. Therefore, ChatPal has been launched early to provide support during these unprecedented times. Helplines and online services have provided increased options for continued access to mental health and wellbeing support. This is of particular concern for people living on their own who may be feeling even more isolated and anxious.
The app can maintain a dialogue with users around how to maintain positive emotions and good physical health, develop relationships, as well as engendering a sense of accomplishment and meaning. This dialogue was developed by a team of Researchers within the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood studies at CIT which is based on the well known positive psychology framework called “PERMAH.”
Dr Raymond Bond, Reader in Data Analytics at Ulster University said, “The ChatPal chatbot app is a computer program that can have a very basic conversation with users, and is developed using a form of artificial intelligence. It augments and extends the reach of traditional existing services without replacing these services.”
David Babington, CEO, Action Mental Health, said “I can really see the need to provide 24/7 digital services that blend and complement our traditional services and our recent experience in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic has given this much greater emphasis. Chatbots are very engaging digital tools that facilitate positive conversations with clients – and that’s what people need – ‘conversation.’ We really do believe that the ChatPal app will be effective in coaching and upskilling people to support self-care and better management of their own wellbeing.”
Dr Alex Vakaloudis, Senior Researcher & Software Development Team Lead at CIT, commented “The Nimbus Research Centre in CIT hosted an INTERREG NPA ChatPal ‘Chatbot Design’ workshop early in 2020. The Workshop comprised of a variety of CIT academics, staff, and student representatives with mental well-being interests, in order to share their own experiences and insights in a collaborative and creative setting.”
Professor Maurice Mulvenna of Ulster University said, “In our recent survey of over 180 mental health experts and professionals, over 75% of respondents said that they believed that chatbots are important in mental health care and that they would support the use of an app such as ChatPal, mainly for self-care, training and educating or coaching people about mental health and wellbeing.”
The ChatPal app is now available for download on the Google Play Store here: https://bit.ly/ChatPalApp
